Spring Cleaning Yard Style Part 1

After 5 years, our decks and porch are in desperate need of some TLC. We bought this new toy a couple of weeks ago, finally I got the chance to use it. It rained for most of the weekend, so I rested two days inside, and worked like mad the entire day yesterday.

First I tested it on the front porch stairs, which in the shade and got mildew and algae growing. Not bad, right?How about the small deck outside the kitchen door. Worked pretty well too.

Then I worked, and worked, and worked, until dinner time, and my hands and back couldn't take it any more. Here are some WIP pictures, will take some after shots later. But look at the difference! How about the chipping paint on the railing? Worked pretty good as well. Just wish I got the soap to come out. I had to wash everything with just water.

Forgot to take before after picture of the patio furniture, but trust me, they look much better now. Now I just have to wait till weekend to paint everything. When we first bought the house, we stained the deck floor, and painted railing white. It looked so gorgeous on brochure, but we forgot one important fact. Their beautiful deck was in the shady spot, vs. ours in full sun. It was pretty, but toooooo bright, blinding even. So, we could not really enjoy it in summer. Now we got another chance to make it right. What color should I choose? (We cannot go back to bare wood, too much work to remove all the white paint from the railing spindles) Oh, just found a great blog posting on Dover Projects about how they refinished and saved their deck. So, maybe I should sand the boards before I stain it again.

BTW, here is a picture of my greatest curb finds every. Picked it up on the side of main street the night before the garbage day. When we drove by it, I thought it might be those thin wire type of shelf, but to my surprise, it's very heavy duty metal shelving, like those in workshops. And it was heavy. So instead of putting it on the top of the car, I had to fold the backseat and put it inside. It's about 5' long and the short section is about 2.5'. Don't really like the chipping black paint. Might go for a fun color (maybe aqua?), since it's going to be outdoor, holding all my orchids and jasmines.